VARIOUS ARTISTS / “Autumn Leaves Mixtape”

I know, I know—it’s still summer but you see what had happened was… I was looking for something and ran across an interesting version of “Autumn Leaves” and then I got to wondering if there were enough versions that I liked that I could put a Mixtape together that was a repeat of what we did back on April 22, 2007 at which time we did twelve versions. You know I love a musical challenge like this. And now the results are in. Except for the Cannonball classic version, we have nineteen versions. We do have a couple of repeat artists but this time around we’re dropping different (and I think better versions) by Dee Bridgewater and Rachelle Ferrell. “Autumn Leaves” is without a doubt the most well-known French song that is most often mistaken as a classic of the American songbook. The original music was written for a ballet by Joseph Kosma, a Hungarian exile then living in France. The original lyrics were by famous poet Jacques Prevert. The English lyrics were written by Johnny Mercer. The song has been recorded so many times, it’s almost impossible to count them. It is a favorite of both pop and jazz artists, and because it’s theme is seasonal, it will probably be around as long as humans falling in and out of love are around, and especially those humans who have summer flings. In any case, here is a very wide range of interpretations. A couple of versions are sung in French. As always, your comments are welcomed as to which version you think is better. —Kalamu ya Salaam "Autumn Leaves" Mixtape Playlist  autumn leaves cover 01.jpg 01 Live in Antibes - Dee Dee Bridgewater autumn leaves cover 02.jpg 02 The Best Of Johnny Griffin autumn leaves cover 03.jpg 03 Bop For Miles - Mark Murphy autumn leaves cover 04.jpg 04 Swingin' Love - Kenny Drew autumn leaves cover 05.jpg 05 Mestizuo - Concha Buika autumn leaves cover 06.jpg 06 Blues Everywhere - Shirley Scott autumn leaves cover 07.jpg 07 At Basin Street East - Gloria Lynne autumn leaves cover 08.jpg 08 Devastatingly Wonderful - Marie Booker autumn leaves cover 09.jpg 09 To The Change In You - Jasmin Bailey autumn leaves cover 10.jpg 10 Follow Me - Jean-Michel Pilc autumn leaves cover 11.jpg 11 Embraceable You - Leny Andrade autumn leaves cover 12.jpg 12 The Essence Part 1-  Ahmad Jamal autumn leaves cover 13.jpg 13 Feeling Orange But Sometimes Blue - Ledisi autumn leaves cover 14.jpg 14 Somethin' Else (Remastered) - Cannonball Adderley autumn leaves cover 15.jpg 15 Autumn Leaves: The Songs Of Johnny Mercer - Jacintha autumn leaves cover 16.jpg 16 Live at the Great American Music Hall - Trudy Pitts Trio autumn leaves cover 17.jpg 17 Promo EP - Kersha Bailey autumn leaves cover 18.jpg 18 Dream Weaver - Charles Lloyd Quartet autumn leaves cover 19.jpg 19 Estival Jazz Lugano (bootleg) - Rachelle Ferrell  

This entry was posted on Monday, July 19th, 2010 at 4:10 am and is filed under Cover. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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